Can I access my child’s account now they’re 18?
A government consultation was undertaken following countless reports of parents unable to access accounts, including Child Trust Funds, set up for their children who had since turned 18. It has become particularly burdensome to parents of disabled children, or those who lack capacity for any other reason, and have additional (at times expensive) needs.
The brick wall parents come up against is that of the Mental Capacity Act principles. The MCA holds that ‘an adult must obtain proper legal authority to access or deal with the property belonging to another adult’. This means that if a power of attorney is not already in place, and their child lacks capacity to manage their own affairs, the accounts will not be accessible, in absence of court intervention.
What are the options or how can this be avoided?
Ideally, every parent in the situation set out above will have a power of attorney in place. A power of attorney (for financial affairs) will enable the parent to step in their child’s shoes and manage their affairs, as if they were the child. A key caveat to this is that to obtain a power of attorney, the person granting permission for decisions to be made on their behalf must have mental capacity.
If the child reaches 18 and is unable to grant a power of attorney, the only option is to apply to the Court of Protection for deputyship. This involves, among other things, you applying to the court and explaining that the person lacks capacity to look after their own affairs, and that you being appointed as a deputy is in their best interests.
The downside to the second option is that the Court of Protection process can be long, expensive, and complex. Additionally, some of the accounts may only contain a small amount of money, which may be mostly or entirely consumed by the court process.
What did the government consultation look at and say?
As part of the consultation, the government looked at the possibility of a ‘small payments scheme’. This would allow access to up to £2,500.00 from such an account, without a court application.
Unfortunately, a mechanism to allow such access, whilst protecting ‘vulnerable individuals from fraud, abuse and undue pressure, including coercion’, could not be agreed upon.
Therefore, much of the process centred around how to make the deputyship process more efficient and less complicated.
This acted as a catalyst to digitization of the application, which led to the report boasting a ‘Reduced processing time from 24 to 8 weeks’. However, it has perhaps done little to reduce how daunting the process will be for parents in such dire situations.
Conclusion
Despite the faster turnaround, and simplified process, obtaining deputyship is still an expensive and burdensome process, especially for those who have responsibility for the care of a less abled child.
Our advice would be to, where possible, look to put a power of attorney in place as soon as your child turns 18.
If this is not possible then deputyship may be an unavoidable position, however you are welcome to contact us to discuss your circumstances, and your options, in more detail.
For more information on Child Trust Funds and how to access them contact Ruth Tarr, a Senior Associate in the Mental Capacity and Court of Protection department on 03456 465 465 or by email: enquiries@rotherabray.co.uk.
Disclaimer: This blog is for information only and does not constitute legal advice. If you need legal advice please contact us on 03456 465 465 or email enquiries@rotherabray.co.uk to get tailored advice specific to your circumstances from our qualified lawyers
